Happy Friday, everybody!
New York Comic-Con is going down at the Javits Center this weekend, and with that we’re getting a deluge of new trailers geared to make the convention crowd scream their heads off. Here’s the first of these previews, a full-length honest-to-God things-go-boom Pacific Rim Uprising spot (we’re mystified why they abandoned the colon as well). Let’s just say we’re happy there’s a sequel being made, but we’re really wondering about the kind of direction they’re taking this project. Oh, and the Tupac only worked when Tarantino did it.
Here’s the clip:
Boy, that’s loud!
All in all, it looks pretty fun, especially if you’re looking for more rock ‘em sock ‘em robot action with a heaping help of your favorite Super Sentai show thrown into the mixture. The new cast ranges from the excellent (John Boyega) to the crushingly bad (stop trying to make Scott Eastwood happen, Hollywood), and the returning cast, amongst whom Charlie Day is perhaps the most recognizable (and heavily made-up) seems to be fun.
Yet it’s kind of a downer, too — this trailer is so all over the place that we had to watch it a few times just to get past the horrible music and truly see some of the cool shots- and what the hell is up with the plot here? We’re wondering exactly why we’re only discovering now that Idris Elba from the first film had a son, given that that whole plot seemed to revolve around him adopting a young girl named Mako Mori (Rinko Kikuchi) after the destruction of Tokyo. Bit odd, don’t you think, that she’s totally missing from the advertising (even though it seems she’s in the film) and even though she’s apparently in a position of power in this new film, that Boyega’s role could have been hers?
Anyways, make up your own mind. Here’s a long-ass synopsis, via io9:
The globe-spanning conflict between otherworldly monsters of mass destruction and the human-piloted super-machines built to vanquish them was only a prelude to the all-out assault on humanity in ‘Pacific Rim Uprising’.
John Boyega (‘Star Wars: The Force Awakens’) stars as the rebellious Jake Pentecost, a once-promising Jaeger pilot whose legendary father gave his life to secure humanity’s victory against the monstrous “Kaiju.” Jake has since abandoned his training only to become caught up in a criminal underworld. But when an even more unstoppable threat is unleashed to tear through our cities and bring the world to its knees, he is given one last chance to live up to his father’s legacy by his estranged sister, Mako Mori (Rinko Kikuchi)—who is leading a brave new generation of pilots that have grown up in the shadow of war. As they seek justice for the fallen, their only hope is to unite together in a global uprising against the forces of extinction.
Jake is joined by gifted rival pilot Lambert (‘The Fate of the Furious’’ Scott Eastwood) and 15-year-old Jaeger hacker Amara (newcomer Cailee Spaeny), as the heroes of the PPDC become the only family he has left. Rising up to become the most powerful defense force to ever walk the earth, they will set course for a spectacular all-new adventure on a towering scale.
‘Pacific Rim Uprising’ is directed by Steven S. DeKnight (Netflix’s Daredevil, STARZ’s Spartacus) and also stars Jing Tian, Burn Gorman, Adria Arjona and Charlie Day.
It hits theaters on March 23.
Image courtesy of Legendary Pictures.